Outcomes Over Output: Why customer behavior is the key metric for business success

by Josh Seiden

an outcome is a change in human behavior that drives business results.

The first Agile Principle says, “Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.”

because outcomes are things people do, they’re both observable and measurable.

For example, a leader may want to reduce cost. That’s an impact. An execution team may understand that support costs are high because customers call tech support at a high rate. That’s the outcome. They think they can reduce tech support calls by fixing confusing product features. That’s the output. So in this case, a simple logic model would look like this: Impact: reduce costs Outcome: fewer people calling tech support Output: improved usability of confusing features

Understanding your co-workers’ points of view, their motivations, and the behavior change you seek to create is the foundation of any transformation effort.